How To Teach Your Dog To Close Doors

This video shows us how to teach any dog to close doors. The dog trainer recommends to reward and motivate the dog with something that he enjoys.

The process of teaching the dog this kind of trick is called “shaping”. This is cleverly done by starting with simple steps and then connecting them together. We reward him with food for every step that he does correctly.

The first step is “Targeting”. Get a post-it and target it with your dog’s nose. Everytime the dog touches it or even looks at the post-it, follow a click, and give a reward afterwards. If the post-it doesn’t get the dog’s attention, then you can try to rub off some food on it. Repeat several times.

The second step is “Adding The Cue”. It’s suggested that you don’t add the cue initially. Make sure that the dog has followed the targeting step consistently before introducing the cue. In this case, the cue is “door” and add it every time you target the post-it to your dog, followed by the click, then reward with a food when done correctly. Gradually move the post-it closer to the door and throw the reward a little to create distance between the door and the dog. Repeat several times.

You can move toward sticking the post-it on the door and direct the dog to it by just pointing, followed by a clicker, and give a reward. The last step is to slightly open the door with the post-it still on it. Direct the dog towards the door, followed by a clicker. Reward the dog with every small step. Repeat several times. Eventually, you can move forward by opening the door in full and only rewarding the dog when he closes the door in one move.

images – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4lL3Js-E1Bc